Validation Test Report for a Navy Sea Ice Forecast System: The Polar Ice Prediction System 2.0.

• Main Authors: Preller, Ruth H., Posey, Pamela G.
• Other Authors: NAVAL RESEARCH LAB STENNIS SPACE CENTER MS COASTAL AND SEMI-ENCLOSED SEAS SE CTION
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1996
• Subjects: Physical and Dynamic Oceanography; Snow; Ice and Permafrost; *SEA ICE; *ICE FORECASTING; COMPUTER PROGRAM DOCUMENTATION; POLAR REGIONS; OPTIMIZATION; OCEAN CURRENTS; HIGH RESOLUTION; ICE FORMATION; SALINITY; COMPUTER PROGRAM VERIFICATION; AIR WATER INTERACTIONS; BARENTS SEA; OCEAN MODELS; OCEAN BASINS; ARCTIC REGIONS; GREENLAND SEA; MILITARY OCEANOGRAPHY; ARCTIC OCEAN; PIPS(POLAR ICE PREDICTION SYSTEM); WUDN153095; Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Barents Sea; Greenland; Arctic Basin; Greenland Sea; Ice; permafrost; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA315840; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA315840

Since 1987, the Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center (FNMOC) has been running sea ice forecasting systems in various regions of Navy interest (Central Arctic, the Barents Sea, and the Greenland Sea). The Polar Ice Prediction System 1.1 predicts sea ice conditions in the Arctic basin, the Barents Sea, and the Greenland Sea at a resolution of 127 km. Two regional sea ice forecast systems, the Polar Ice Prediction System - Barents Sea (RPIPS-B) and the Polar Ice Prediction System - Greenland Sea (RPIPS-G), also predict sea ice conditions in the Barents and Greenland Seas, respectively, at a higher resolution of 20-25 km. In 1995, the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) delivered to FNMOC a coupled ice-ocean system, the Polar Ice Prediction System 2.0 (PIPS2.0), which predicts sea ice conditions of most of the ice-covered regions in the Northern Hemisphere. PIPS2.0 will replace the three existing operational forecast systems when it completes the final operational testing phase at FNMOC. PIPS2.0 uses as its basis the Hibler ice model and the Cox ocean model. PIPS2.0 has a resolution of approximately one-quarter of a degree, which is equivalent to the resolution of the operational regional systems (RPIPS-B and RPIPS-G). This report documents the validation of PIPS2.0 against both observational data and the results of the existing operational forecast systems.